The Return of the Snake Lord
by squeaks101
Summary: Starts from beginning of Naruto until time skip. Read profile for a somewhat better summary. Rated M for blood and language only. A definite NaruHina, and possible SasuSaku, TemShika, and NejiTen
1. Chapter 1 Happy Birthday Naruto

**The Return of the Snake Lord**

Chapter 1 Happy Birthday Naruto

Naruto ran through the streets of Konoha, going as fast as his short legs could carry him. It was October tenth, his birthday, and he was turning seven years old. The people of Konoha always had a celebration on this day but it was never for him, it was because it was also the day the Kyuubi was destroyed. Seven years ago to the day the Yondaime destroyed the Kyuubi and saved the village.

And so Naruto ran through the streets toward the big celebration, trying not to be noticed. The people in the village hated him and Naruto could never understand why, and it was always worse on this day in particular. So, as not to be noticed, instead of his usual orange t-shirt, he wore a dark blue one along with some blue shorts and sandals. He knew he would be recognized right away because of his hair, so he hid it under a hat and pulled it down over his face concealing his bright blue eyes and the whisker marks on his cheeks. He knew if he was found out the people would chase him and beat him, but he decided to go anyway.

As he finally came around the last corner he bumped into someone and fell to the ground, his hat falling off. When he looked up he saw that it was a small girl. She was getting up and picked up Naruto's hat, dusting it off. She had pale lavender eyes with no pupils, and dark raven colored hair. She handed Naruto his hat as he stood up brushing himself off.

"Are y-you o-ok?" the girl asked.

"Yea I'm fine, sorry for knocking you over, are you ok?" Naruto replied.

"I-I'm ok," she said.

There was a brief silence before Naruto asked, "What's your name?"

"My n-name is H-Hinata, Hyuuga H-Hinata. What is yours?" she asked timidly.

Naruto caught himself before yelling out his name, and quietly whispered, "Uzumaki Naruto, but don't tell anyone ok?"

Hinata nodded, "I p-promise N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto blushed at the suffix she added to his name. "So, where are you going?" he asked awkwardly.

"To the c-celebration."

Naruto's face lit up, "Me too! Why don't we go together?"

Hinata didn't have chance to answer as Hyuuga Hiashi walked over. "And who is this young man you are talking to Hinata? Take off your hat, boy, let me see you." Naruto lowered his head and shook it. Hiashi bent down to one knee and lifted the boy's head. He immediately recognized Naruto and pulled his hand back in disgust. "You! You filthy demon child, get away from my daughter! Never speak to her again! And you, Hinata, never speak to him, and if I catch you talking to this boy you will be punished!"

Hinata turned sorrowful eyes toward Naruto that said she was sorry and then turned back to her father, "Y-yes, s-sir."

Hiashi grabbed Hinata's arm and dragged her off, away from Naruto. Naruto lowered his head and tears filled his eyes. Unfortunately, some of the citizens of Konoha overheard the conversation and walked over to Naruto. "So, trying to hide yourself from us this year, eh? Too bad it didn't work looks like we'll just have to kick your ass to teach you a lesson."

Naruto backed away looking at the large men before him. As they lunged at him he turned and ran for fear of being beaten to death, but his short legs could not outrun them, and they caught him. They beat him until he was unconscious and even continued to beat him after that. Naruto was in the middle of the street, bloody and broken. People walked around him not bothering to help him.

OoOoO

Naruto woke up feeling terrible. He was in a bed and he looked around and noticed he was in his room. From the shadows, the Hokage appeared. "Old man! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"My ninja found you lying on the ground in the middle of the street. We healed you and brought you home." He paused for a moment, "Naruto what happened?"

"These men chased me and beat me up," he replied. Naruto slowly began to cry, "Why do they hate me old man? Why can't they like me or be nice to me?"

The Hokage looked at Naruto, _How I wish I could tell you Naruto, but I'm afraid it might scar you more to find out you have a demon inside you. _Instead he answered, "I don't know Naruto, and I wish I did. I will try to make them stop I promise."

Naruto looked at the Hokage, "They have to listen to you; you're the Hokage." At that moment a thought formed in his mind. "Of course!" Naruto exclaimed, "I'll become the next Hokage so the people will have to respect me and be nice to me!"

"Well that means you'll have to become a ninja, Naruto. Do you want to?" he asked.

"You mean you'll let me become a ninja?" Naruto said incredulously.

"Of course, if that is what you want."

Naruto jumped out of his bed and leapt around the room, "Oh boy! I can't wait, when can I get in?"

"I'll sign you up and you'll be in next year's class."

"Really so soon? That's great!" Naruto said as he continued to leap around the room; that is until he tripped and smashed his face into the floor. Naruto picked himself up and looked around, "Hey old man where'd you go?"

OoOoO

It was October tenth, five years later, making Naruto twelve years old. He was in the ninja academy, still trying to graduate. At the moment, though, he was leaping over rooftops toward the big celebration going on in the middle of the village, in his hands were large cans. _Hehe, this is going to be the best prank out of all of them, I just can't get caught this time, _Naruto thought. As he reached the rooftop overlooking the town square, he kneeled down to make sure no one saw him. He set down the two cans he was holding and took the bag off of his back and opened it up. Inside were another two large cans. _Since I have some paint left over, I guess I should share with the rest of the village, hehe. This is going to be so much fun, seeing the look on their faces. _Naruto took the lid off of one of the cans and looked over the edge. Right below him were the elders of Konoha. _Holy crap, I must be lucky today, now's my chance, _he thought. He held the can firmly in his grip and got ready to throw it's contents over the edge.

"What do you think you're doing Uzumaki?" a voice asked from behind him.

Naruto froze and turned around; an Anbu stood their, arms crossed, a dog mask covering his face. Brown hair could be seen sticking out from behind the mask. He wore the vest of an Anbu over a black long sleeve shirt and had his hitai-ate wrapped around his left arm.

_Fuck,_ was the only thing that went through his mind. In one motion he threw the paint at the Anbu and ran.

The dog masked Anbu was caught entirely off guard as the paint covered every inch of him. He turned and saw the fleeting figure of Naruto. Anger filled him and he screamed, "Get back here Naruto, you bastard!"

Naruto heard him screaming and decided to pick up the pace. _Shit shit shit. I can't believe I did that! To an Anbu! I mean I would never do that to the Hoka...oh wait I did the other day. That was hilarious, the look on the old man's face, priceless..._ Naruto mentally slapped himself; _Snap out of it, that Anbu is probably right behind me!_

As Naruto was fighting with himself to keep himself focused, the dog masked Anbu was indeed behind him. _That little fucker. I've had to watch that kid since he was born, had to make sure he never got hurt to bad. I haven't gotten a decent mission since the Hokage gave me this one. I'm the best Anbu out there, I deserve better missions, not to be stuck babysitting this kid. I don't care what the Hokage said, that demon child is going to die, no one will care, and I'll probably be a hero for it. Hehe, just wait Uzumaki, when I catch you..._

Naruto suddenly disappeared from the Anbu's sight and, confused, looked around. "What the hell? Where'd that bastard go?"

Speaking of the kid, down in the alley below, Naruto had himself camouflaged against a fence. It was flawless and the Anbu didn't suspect a thing. Naruto watched, holding his breath waiting for the Anbu to leave. Finally he disappeared from sight and Naruto came out from hiding. _Sucker, _Naruto thought as he casually walked down the alley. As he was walking down the street, his stomach let out a loud growl. _Now that I think about it, I'm starving. Time for some ramen!_

The blonde haired boy walked into Ichiraku's and sat down. "Hey old man, one miso ramen, please!"

The old man laughed. "Just one?" he asked.

"I'll get more later, don't worry. You can't go bankrupt when I'm around," he replied.

"Ok then, one miso ramen for starters comin' up."

A voice came from behind Naruto, "Make that two, please."

Naruto turned around immediately recognizing the voice, "Iruka-sensei!"

"Hey there Naruto, how's it going?" the chuunin teacher asked as he sat down next to the ramen loving boy.

"Awesome! Have you come to buy me lunch sensei?" the boy asked.

"Sorry Naruto, but I'm still broke from the last time," Iruka replied.

"Oh, sorry, next time I promise not to go over twenty bowls."

Iruka sighed and shook his head, "Thanks Naruto."

Naruto beamed at him. the bowls of ramen finally made it to the table and Naruto started to dig in. Thirty bowls of ramen and one empty gama-chan later, Naruto sat back in his chair and patted his stomach. "Ah that should last me until dinner!" Naruto looked over at Iruka who had just finished his second bowl, "So sensei, when do we take the graduating exams?"

"Day after tomorrow, actually."

Naruto practically jumped out of his seat, "Are you serious! I've gotta go train!" He ran out of the ramen stand and yelled a quick goodbye before he vanished.

As Naruto jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading for his favorite training ground, he didn't notice the dog masked Anbu that was following him, _I've got you now Uzumaki._

OoOoO

Naruto was pounding a tree into dust as he continued to press himself to get stronger. He wanted to show up all the people that had made fun of him while he was in the academy. Especially Sasuke, he hated that kid, but then his mind drifted to a much better thought, Sakura. Since the first day he saw her Naruto had a crush on her, she was smart, talented, and not to mention hot! Naruto's mouth started drooling just thinking about her. As Naruto continued to daydream about Sakura quick flash of movement caused him to wipe the drool off his face and look around. Naruto scratched his head, _Probably just a rabbit._

Hinata stood behind a tree, pressing herself against it like she wanted to melt into it. Naruto had almost seen her. She berated herself for being so stupid, she didn't want to be caught watching him; he might think she was weird. After several minutes went by, she slowly sat down and peered around the tree. Naruto was no where to be seen. _It's all my fault, I probably scared him off,_ she thought somberly. She sighed in resignation and pulled off her backpack. She pulled out a box and opened it up. Inside was a few pieces of dango, and she took one out and began to eat. _I wonder if Naruto-kun's is...no, no! No perverted thoughts! Gah!_

She washed it out of her mind and continued eating, a large blush on her face. She was fine up until someone tapped her on the shoulder and very familiar voice asked, "You got enough for two Hinata?" causing her to jump ten feet in the air, fall to the ground, and faint.

"That didn't go as planned," Naruto said, rubbing his chin. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

He sighed and decided to sit Hinata up against a tree and wait for her to wake up. He sat down next to her and noticed that she was shivering. He looked at the sky and noticed it was getting dark, and so he decided to wrap his arm around Hinata to try and warm her up. Hinata unknowingly snuggled closer to Naruto welcoming the sudden warmth.

Hinata slowly began to wake up and realized she was up against something really warm. She wrapped her arms around whatever it was and pressed herself against it. "Oh so warm," she said aloud.

"Thanks Hinata," a voice answered back.

"You're welcome," she answered. Then suddenly her eyes shot open and she looked up. "N-N-N-Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed, and then fainted again.

Naruto looked around and realized it was pitch black. _Damn,_ he thought, _I can't see a thing. _Naruto thought about it, but didn't want to risk getting lost in the dark, so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around the both of them. He was glad he was glad it was too dark for anyone to see his blush as he moved in closer to Hinata. Slowly Naruto fell asleep.

Off in the darkness, a figure was sitting in a tree branch watching Naruto, _You're lucky the Hyuuga girl is with you Uzumaki, looks like I'll have to kill you tomorrow._

He jumped off into the darkness when he felt a presence near by. He slowly crept his way to the source and then began hearing two voices whispering. He got to a branch overlooking the area the two were talking in. He carefully pulled back a branch and peered through the hole. There at the bottom of the tree stood Mizuki and a cloaked man. The Anbu jumped down and surprised the both of them. The cloaked man vanished and the Anbu turned and looked at Mizuki. "What are you doing Mizuki?" he asked.

"Nothing," he replied, looking around.

"I think you're lying, and unless you want me to take you to Ibiki, I would tell the truth."

He hesitated, and seemed to decide against being taken to Ibiki. "I was...planning on stealing to forbidden scroll from the Hokage's office."

The Anbu seemed to think for a moment, "Well you can't possibly do it yourself, you need a scapegoat."

Mizuki seemed stunned, "W-what?"

"Use the Uzumaki kid, you know he'll fail the exam, tell him he'll pass if he steals it and learns a jutsu from it. Then we can kill him and make off with the scroll."

"Why are helping me? Shouldn't you be turning me in to the Hokage," Mizuki asked, confused.

"Screw the Hokage, I'm sick and tired of this village. We're taking the scroll tomorrow and killing the Uzumaki brat."

Mizuki smiled, "Alright, you got a deal."

OoOoO

Naruto woke up and found that Hinata was gone. Naruto was disappointed that she had not even bothered to say good bye and thank you. _Whatever, she's just like all the others._ Naruto stood up and put his jacket back on. As he was dusting himself off he suddenly remembered what today was. _Oh shit! The graduating exams are today, I've got to get moving!_

Naruto jumped into the nearest tree and went as fast as he could to get to the academy. _Why didn't Hinata wake me up? She probably wants me to fail, she doesn't like me just like everyone else._

In truth, Hinata had woken up to find herself laying on top of Naruto and freaked out. Forcing herself to stay conscious, she got up and decided to go get some food for Naruto because she knew he would be hungry when he woke up. However, since Naruto left before she returned, she decided to head to the academy and see if she could thank him for keeping her warm. She blushed at that thought and wished she had been conscious when she was sleeping next to him.

As she finally arrived at the academy, she promptly began to look for Naruto and when seeing him...lost all courage to go talk to him and went and sat down. She sighed, and mentally kicked herself, _Why can't I go over and simply say hello? Its not that hard is it?_ She continued to pout and it got worse when Sakura came in, arguing with Ino. She slid lower in her chair as Naruto quickly went over and asked her out and was just as quickly turned down. Sakura then went right over and sat next to Sasuke. Unfortunately the other fan girls of Sasuke got angry and they all began to fight and Naruto decided to jump up on Sasuke's desk and glare at him. Hinata watched and pleaded with God and prayed he didn't do anything stupid. But, it was Naruto she was talking about, so somehow, he managed to lean to close to Sasuke and he was bumped into kissing him. Hinata let out a large scream...in her head. _How dare Sasuke steal Naruto's first kiss, that was supposed to be mine! I want to kill him! I'm going to rip his effing head off!_ But Hinata is Hinata, so she decided to sink lower into her seat and sulk.

At that moment Iruka decided to walk in and pull the angry mob off of Naruto for stealing Sasuke's first kiss. He calmly took his place at the front of the room, "Ok class, today is the graduation exam, I expect everyone to try their best. Let's get started!" He picked up a list up off the desk behind him and reads the first name, "First up is Haruno Sakura."

One by one, the students exited the room to take the exam, Naruto waiting rather impatiently for his turn. Hinata sat behind him urging herself to tap him on the shoulder. Finally, she slowly and timidly raised a finger and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, and seeing who it was, dropped his smile immediately. "What do you want?" Naruto asked, anger audible in his voice.

She withdrew from him as if struck and then whispered, "I-I just w-wanted to..."

She was cut off by Naruto, "Apologize for leaving me in the woods? I could have missed the exams because of you, but that's probably what you wanted anyway."

"W-what? No N-Naruto-kun, I-I..." she sighed as she was interrupted again, this time by Iruka.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you're next. Please follow me," he announced. Naruto jumped out of his chair and without a glance back, followed Iruka out of the room. _Please Naruto-kun, _Hinata thought, _do your best._

Naruto walked into the room where Iruka and a ninja Naruto remembered as being Mizuki, were sitting. "Ok, Naruto, the test is to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu," Iruka told him.

Naruto mentally groaned, _Of course they pick the jutsu I can't do. Calm down, I can do this, just concentrate. _Naruto made the correct sign and blue chakra surrounded him. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled. There was a puff of smoke and as the smoke cleared, laying on the floor was the worst looking clone the two teachers had ever seen.

"Well...that is certainly distracting," Mizuki said.

Iruka made a mark on his paper, "I'm sorry Naruto, but you fail. Maybe next time."

Naruto hung his head and walked out of the room and continued out of the academy, to a tree with a swing in it. He sat on it and watched as kids came out a celebrated their promotion to genin. Hinata walked out and saw Naruto sitting on the swing and noticed he didn't have one of the hitai-ate that is a symbol of graduation. _Oh Naruto-kun... _she thought, sighing. She turned to head home and heard a few women talking.

"Is that the Uzumaki boy?" the first woman asked.

"Yes that's him, did he graduate?" the second woman questioned.

"No thank goodness, he was the only one to fail," said the first.

"Good, he shouldn't be allowed to become a shinobi because that thing could..."

She was quickly interrupted, "Shhhhhh! We can't talk about that, lets just be thankful he didn't become a ninja."

The other lady nodded and they both walked off. Hinata stood thinking to herself, she didn't know what the two women meant by saying he shouldn't be allowed to become a ninja, but Hinata felt it was wrong to deny Naruto that chance. She turned to get a good bye look at Naruto, but he wasn't on the swing anymore, he had disappeared.

OoOoO

Naruto sat on the roof of a stranger's house. He was lying on his back staring up at the sky, watching it change colors as the sun slowly set. Naruto sat up as he felt a rush of wind beside him. He turned to see who it was, and Mizuki sat there. "Hello Mizuki-sensei," Naruto greeted him.

"Hello Naruto," he paused for a moment. "I came to say that its too bad you didn't graduate Naruto. You are easily the best ninja from the academy." Naruto beamed at the praise and Mizuki laughed, _This kid'll believe anything, now lets see if he'll believe this... _

"Did you know Naruto, that there is another way to graduate from the academy?" Mizuki asked.

Naruto's eyes widened to the size of plates, "Really? What is it? Come on, tell me!"

"Do you know anything about the Forbidden Scroll of Seals?"

"Only that it contains a bunch of high ranked jutsu we're not allowed to learn."

"That is not entirely true. If you can sneak into the Hokage tower and steal the scroll then learn a jutsu from it before you're caught, you will be allowed to graduate."

"No way!" Naruto said a glint in his eye. "I'm going to get the scroll tonight. Thanks and wish me luck Mizuki-sensei!"

Mizuki's smile turned to a scowl as Naruto leapt away. "So it worked, he really is a dumbass," a voice said. The Anbu walked out from the shadows.

"Seems it did and he's going to do it tonight," Mizuki replied. "We just have to make sure we find him first."

"Don't worry I'll have an eye on him the whole time," the dog masked Anbu said as he merged into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

OoOoO

Naruto crept along a hallway in the Hokage's tower, checking every room for the Scroll of Seals. As he reached the room that was below the Hokage's office, he heard a creaking off floorboards from behind him. He pulled a kunai out of his pouch and turned around. There wasn't anyone there as he looked around and so he put away the kunai. He slowly opened the door and looked inside. Inside were thousands of scrolls, some were old and decrepit, looking like they would fall apart at the slightest touch while others seemed to be rather new and well taken care of.

Naruto walked in and shut the door behind him. He picked up a scroll and looked at it and it had the words _Confidential: Not to be read by anyone except the Hokage _written on it. Naruto smiled and opened it up, and at the top it said _List of The Toad Sage's Secret Jutsu. _"Who's the toad sage?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Maybe I'll keep this for later," he said as he pocketed the scroll. Naruto spent the next two hours looking through scrolls until he finally found the one he was looking for. With the scroll in hand, he snuck out of the tower and crept off into the night.

OoOoO

The Third Hokage woke up to the sound of knocking at his door. Sleepily he called out to open the door. An Anbu walked into the room and waited. Annoyed, Sarutobi yelled at the man, "Well, what is it?!"

"The Scroll of Seals has been stolen, sir," the Anbu replied.

"Do you know who did it?" he asked praying it wasn't who he suspected.

"We believe it was the Uzumaki boy," was the answer.

_Damn, _he thought. "Well find him as quickly as possible." The Anbu saluted and disappeared. _Oh Naruto what trouble have you gotten into this time? _the Third wondered.

Elsewhere, in a forest outside the village, Naruto pulled out the scroll and opened it. It contained jutsus used by all the Hokage, including Kokuangyo no Jutsu, the 1st's jutsu and Doton Doryuuheki, the 3rd's. They all interested Naruto, but none of them seemed easy to learn, and he knew he had a limited amount of time. Finally he found one that looked as if it was simple, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. "Guess I'll have t work extra hard on this one, since I suck at the bunshin," he said aloud. He read the instructions and began working on mastering the Kage Bunshin.

As Naruto was working, Iruka was jumping madly through the forest searching for Naruto. He knew, of all the places he would come to train, it would be the forest, so Iruka ran straight to the forest as soon as he heard about what Naruto had done. _Damn it Naruto, _he thought, _why do you always have to go and do something so damn stupid? Is it because you didn't pass the exams, or are you finally fed up with the crap people give you about something you know nothing about? Either one, hold on Naruto and you had better pray I find you first._

OoOoO

Naruto sat on the ground, panting. "Whew! That's a lot of work, but I finally got it!" Naruto jumped up and pumped a fist into the air, "I, Uzumaki Naruto, will no longer be a failure and I'm gonna be Hokage!"

"That's a laugh kid, there's no way you're gonna be Hokage," a familiar voice said behind him. Naruto turned around and looked up at Mizuki, who was standing on a branch. He wore his usual uniform, but sitting on his back were two large shurikens, the largest Naruto had ever seen. Naruto grabbed the scroll and placed it on his back. "You're a dumbass, you know that right? I mean come on, you actually believed me when I said you'd graduate if you stole the scroll. Ha! More like be thrown in jail!"

"Naruto looked around nervously, "W-what? But you said..."

"I lied! Deal with it, and now you will give me the scroll so I can get out of this hell hole of a village."

"You told me that so I would steal the scroll for you?" Naruto questioned.

"Bingo! The demon boy finally understands!" Mizuki yelled. Naruto grimaced at the word demon and stepped back. "Did I hit a soft spot, don't like to be called demon, huh? You don't even know why you're a demon, hey I know, maybe I'll let you in on a secret if you give me the scroll."

Naruto scowled at Mizuki, "If you're planning on betraying this village then no, I won't give you this scroll!"

Mizuki glared at him and let out a soft growl, "Wrong answer and now we have to kill you."

"We?" Naruto asked. Suddenly, he felt a large amount of killing intent and as he turned around, saw a large fireball coming at him. Naruto stood frozen in place as the fire jutsu got closer and closer. Naruto shut his eyes just as the fireball was about to hit, but then he heard a voice shout, "Suiton Suijinheki!"

As Naruto opened his eyes, he saw that it was Iruka that had used the jutsu and saved him. As the steam cleared, Naruto saw the Anbu walking towards Iruka. "Get out of the way Iruka; it's time for this kid to die." Naruto immediately recognized the Anbu as the one that was chasing him the day before.

"If you want him, come get him," Iruka replied.

Mizuki laughed, "You think you can beat the two of us Iruka? You baka, there's no way!"

"I will not let you kill Naruto, he is my student, and I care for him as if he is my own son!" Iruka declared. Naruto almost fell over backward after hearing Iruka's words, and looked at his teacher with a respect he showed no one but the Sandaime. "Get behind me Naruto; I won't let them hurt you." Naruto quietly obeyed, to dumbstruck to do anything else.

Mizuki and pulled out a large shuriken from his back and prepared to throw it. "Your funeral," he said and threw the shuriken at them. Iruka turned and grabbed Naruto and jumped out of the way only to be caught in a shower of kunai thrown by the Anbu. Iruka and Naruto hit the ground hard and are both slow to get up. "Katon Housenka!" the Anbu yelled as multiple fireballs flew from his lips.

Iruka forced himself to stand and made a few hand signs, "Doton Doryuuheki!" Mud flew from his mouth and landed in front of him and formed a wall. The fireballs exploded as they hit the wall, unable to break through. "Run Naruto, go and get help!" Iruka ordered him as he fell to one knee.

"No Iruka-sensei, I can't leave you here to die!" he replied, tears forming in his eyes.

"Aw, how sweet, I didn't know a demon could cry. I thought they were devoid of all emotion," Mizuki taunted.

"Why do you keep calling me a demon, tell me now!" Naruto screamed, the tears flowing freely now.

"I guess I should tell you before you die. How much do you know of the Kyuubi?"

"Only that the Fourth killed it," Naruto replied, thoughts racing through his mind. _Why would he ask me about the Kyuubi? What does this have to do with anything? Could it be possible the Kyuubi isn't dead? If it isn't dead then where..._

The thought appeared in his mind just as Mizuki told him, "Ha! The Kyuubi isn't dead, only dormant, sleeping inside of a kid, sealed by the Fourth into a newborn baby."

Naruto's mind was racing back and forth, and then everything clicked. Naruto went wide eyed with realization, _This explains everything, why everyone hates, why they want me dead, everything!_

Mizuki let out an evil laugh, "I see you figured it out, yes it's true. The demon, Naruto, is sealed inside of you!"

Naruto backed away, shaking his head, _I'm a demon, I have to run away, no one can like a demon._

Iruka glared at Mizuki, "You weren't supposed to tell him! You know it's..."

"You knew?" Naruto asked interjecting. "You knew and you still care for me?"

"Yes Naruto, I do."

"Oh man, this is making me gag! Shut up, the both of you," the Anbu said. He jumped up next to Mizuki and took one of the shuriken off his back, "Give me that! If you won't use it I will." He threw the shuriken as hard as he could at Naruto, and Naruto cringed knowing there wasn't enough time to get out of the way. He felt a strange sensation and then heard the impact of the shuriken, except that it was to the left of him. He opened his eyes to see he was no longer standing in the same spot, but in Iruka's! He turned and looked at where he had been standing and gasped. Iruka stood there, the shuriken in his chest. Blood dripped from the wound and his mouth.

"Iruka-sensei! Why did you do that?!" Naruto demanded as he rushed to his side.

He coughed up blood and tuned to stare at Naruto, "Because I care, Naruto. Now get out of here." Iruka went unconscious from the loss of blood and went limp in Naruto's hands. He gently put Iruka on the ground and stood up. His hair covered his eyes as he faced the two ninja. Tears hit the forest floor as Naruto cried for Iruka. He lifted his arm and wiped away the tears and pushed away his hair. His eyes were blood red and he let off a killer intent that made the two ninja cringe in fear.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto bellowed, "I"LL KILL THE BOTH OF YOU!"

Mizuki was too afraid to move as he turned to ask his partner what to do only to find he was gone. "That son of a bitch!" Mizuki whispered as he realized what happened. "It was a fucking shadow clone! He sent it just in case we were caught!" He looked back down at the howling Naruto below him.

Naruto launched himself at Mizuki and punched him in the face sending him flying through a tree before falling to the ground. Naruto leapt into the air and cried as he made a cross with his fingers, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Hundreds of clones filled the area and looked down on Mizuki. He looked around, fear evident in his mind. The real Naruto raised his hand and pointed at Mizuki, "KILL HIM!"

They all jumped on top of Mizuki and pummeled him into the ground, beating him to the brink of unconsciousness. Naruto calls for them to halt and walks over to Mizuki. He leaned down and started whispering to him. "I have been pushed around and beaten up by people like you. I have been hated and called a demon my entire life, by people like you. I been shunned and stepped on by people like you. Its just too bad you were the one to push me too far. and treat me like crap. I'm tired of it, I won't hurt the village, it's my home, my only home whether I like it or not, and maybe someday the people will understand me, but I see you will never understand me. I wouldn't dare kill a fellow Konoha ninja, but in my eyes you are no longer part of the village." Naruto stood up and raised his foot. He brought it down on Mizuki's head, crushing it, spraying blood all over his leg.

Naruto dismissed the clones and ran back to Iruka. Naruto picked him up and ran toward the village gates, _Please Iruka-sensei, please be alright._

A/N: hehe, does Iruka survive or die? find out next time! anyway thanks for reading, R&R please and give me some advice and constructive criticism.

On another note, the teams will be announced next chapter whether or not Iruka dies. I could use some help if you guys don't mind. I want you guys to vote in your reviews what Naruto's team should be. please choose from the following, anything other than the choices I give you will not be counted. sorry, just I can't decide which one and I really want to do one of these:

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke  
Naruto, Hinata, and Shino  
Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura

Thank you for voting and I'll try and crank out the next chap soon!


	2. Chapter 2 A Sad Time, A Happy Time

Hey there people, heres the next chapter for my story.

Please, I want some reviews, is that too much to ask for? I'll be gone for a little while for vacation, so progress will be slow on th next chapters. Also, if you like this story, please read my others, they need some reviews too you know. 

Anyway, hope you like the chapter, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 2 A Sad Time, a Happy Time

_Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep_

Naruto woke with a start as he heard a knock on the door. He was in a hospital room, the room Iruka currently occupied. He rubbed his eyes as he stood up and went to answer the door. When he opened the door, the Hokage stood there. "May I come in?" he asked cautiously.

"You're the Hokage you don't need to ask me for permission," Naruto glumly replied.

"How is Iruka doing?"

Naruto looked over at the hospital bed Iruka was lying on, "They say he is in serious condition, and they give him until morning." Tears started to well up in his eyes, "He's not gonna make it."

"Its all right Naruto, he died saving your life. You should be happy he loved you that much," the Hokage stated.

"I know, and I am, but...the only person that actually liked me besides you, Hokage-sama, is going to die," Naruto replied, tears now streaming freely down his face.

The Hokage pulled him into a hug, "Its all right Naruto, there will be others who care for you."

"Yea...there will be others," someone said.

Nauro looked over at the bed, Iruka was awake and smiling at him. "Iruka-sensei!" Naruto screamed rushing to his side, "Are you alright?"

Iruka let out a small cough, "I feel terrible, and it seems I don't have a lot of time left."

"Don't say that! You're gonna be fine, I won't let you die!"

"You can't stop death Naruto, it's a natural part of life."

"I'll find a way, you can't die, you're the only one who's ever said they care for me!" Naruto screamed.

"There _will _be others Naruto, you just need to show them who you really are and not what the people say you are."

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

"Please don't leave Iruka-sensei, don't leave me alone," Naruto sobbed.

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

"I will always be with you Naruto, I will be in your heart," Iruka replied.

_Beep...Beep_

Iruka lifted his hand and put it on top of Naruto's head, "You be a good person, and protect this village. I'll be watching you, so you better keep to you're promise and become Hokage some day. You got that?"

Naruto sniffed and smiled, "You betcha Iruka-sensei, I'll become Hokage for you."

_Beep..._

Nurses and doctors rushed into the room once the heart monitor stopped. Doctors scrambled around trying to save him, "We're going to have to restart his heart." The doctor grabbed the shock paddles and rubbed them together, "Clear!" Iruka's body jumped from the shock, but he remained dead. They did this a few more times before announcing him dead at 9am on October 12th.

Naruto curled up next to the bed once the nurses and doctors had left, hugging his legs and crying softly. A doctor walked into the room and kneeled next to him. "It's all right son, he is in a better place now," he said.

Naruto turned away from him and the Hokage walked over and put a hand on the doctor's shoulder. He looked up at the Hokage and the Sandaime shook his head. The doctor understood and left the room.

"The funeral will be held in a few days," Sarutobi said as he walked out of the room.

OoOoO

Naruto was dressed in all black as he left his apartment. Naruto took his time walking through the streets of Konoha; he was heading toward the park, where the funeral was being held. The town of Konoha carried on its usual buisness, most not knowing anybody had died. As he was walking through the streets, eyes focused on the ground, he ran intosomeone. He looked up and saw Shikamaru. "Sorry," Naruto muttered as he walked past him. Shikamaru caught up to him and matched his pace.

"You all right?" he asked. Naruto didn't asnwer. They walked along silently for a while when Shikamaru spoke again, "You know it's not healthy to keep your emotions bottled up, you'll get sick."

"So, it's not like anyone cares," Naruto replied sadly.

"You should talk about it, like what happened."

"Mizuki-teme killed him, alright? That's it."

"Is it Naruto, it seems like it means more to you than that."

Naruto fought back the tears that had been flowing constantly since Iruka had died, "He was like a father to me, he cared for me, enough so that he died for me. Now...now he's gone, and there is no one left who will care about me that much."

"Maybe not now, but you have to believe that there will be, there always will be."

Naruto quieted down again and they walked the rest of the way without speaking. As they entered the park, the large memorial statue stood at the center. All of Iruka's class was there, dressed in black heads bowed in respect. The Sandaime stood at the head of the group looking out at the group of people. He noticed Naruto and Shikamaru walk up and cleared his throat. Everyone was there that would be there, so Sarutobi decided to start the ceremony.

"We are here today to mourn the loss of a beloved friend, teacher, and ninja. His life was lost on October 12th at 9am. He loved all his students very dearly and cared for every one of them, and it was for this love that he gave his life. He willingly sacrificed his life to save one of you here today." He paused to look around at the students. All had there heads bowed in respect, but only one was crying, it was Naruto. He waited another moment before continuing on. "Iruka was a good man, and an even better ninja, but gladly gave up a promotion to anbu to stay with his students. He enjoyed teaching very much and I believe that it was his calling to teach you students. Now I will allow you to pay your respects before we put his name on this memorial stone."

Naruto watched as one after the other, people went up and layed a flower at the bottom of the memorial. Naruto was the last to stand and take his flower up. To Naruto, the walk took forever, but when he finally got there he knelt down. He put his flower on top of the pile and bowed his head. He stayed like that for a full minute before lifting his head high. He looked up at the sky and smiled through the tears on his face. _I _will_ become Hokage Iruka-sensei, I will._

Naruto jumped out of bead the following morning and got dressed as quickly as possible. Once he was finished with his morning routines he left his apartment and strolled around the village. _Since Mizuki-teme lied to me, looks like I won't be graduating again this year, _Naruto thought. He was pondering what to do when an anbu appeared in front of him, this one wearing a bird's mask.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you have been summoned by the Hokage, please report to his office immediately," he said.

"All right, I'll be there as quickly as possible," Naruto replied. The anbu vanished and Naruto jumped up on the rooftops, making his way as quickly as possible to the Hokage's office. Once he got to the tower, he entered through the window and stood behind the Hokage, who was sitting at his desk reading papers. Naruto slowly and quietly crept towards him.

"You need to learn to be more quiet Naurto, I heard you coming from a mile away," Sarutobi said, startling Naruto.

Naruto snapped his fingers and made an 'oh darn' face. He walked to the front of the desk and bowed, "You summoned me old man?"

"Yes, I want to talk about your graduation to genin."

"I failed, didn't I?"

"True, but Mizuki told you that if you mastered a technique from that scroll you would pass, so did you?"

Naruto grinned as he made a cross with his fingers and yelled, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Three Narutos appeared and they all gave the Hokage the thumbs-up sign.

The Sandaime laughed before saying, "I'm not surprised, and since you were able to learn a jutsu from the scroll, you graduate to genin!"

Naruto's face was priceless as he slowly realized what had happened. He beganjumped around wooping and pumping his fist into the air. "So, where's my hitai-ate?" he asked excitedly. The Hokage opened his desk drawer before pulling out the forehead protector. Naruto's smile slowly faded, "Is that...?"

"Yes, this is Iruka's hitai-ate, and I'm giving it to you."

"I can't accept this, its...its his and I wouldn't feel right..."

"I know he would want you to have it, so take it and wear it proudly." Naruto extended his hand and took the protector from the Hokage's grasp. He looked at it and rubbed his hand over the ingraving of the leaf symbol. He lifted it to his head and put it on. "What do you think Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

Naruto looked at Sarutobi and smiled, "Arigato, Hokage-sama."

He smiled back, "Now hurry up, teams are going to be announced soon, you don't want to be late!" Naruto jumped ou the window and was gone in an instant. _That boy, he's something special._

OoOoO

Hinata walked into the classroom where the class was gathering to find out who was on their team. Once she entered she walked to the back of the class and sat down. She was dissapointed that Naruto hadn't made it and just sulked in the back of the room as people carried on random conversations throughout the room.

All of a sudden, there was loud bang as the door to the classroom was slid open. Hinata sat up in her chair as a familiar face walked in the room. A blonde boy with blue eyes, whisker marks on his cheeks, and sitting proudly on his forehead was a hitai-ate; it was none other than Naruto. He didn't say a word as he entered the room; he walked to the back of the room, and was about to sit when he saw Hinata. They locked eyes and Hinata felt fear flow into her gut. _He's still mad at me, _she thought as she broke her gaze from Naruto. She lowered her head to look at her legs and waited for him to walk away, but what surprised her was when he sat down next to her.

She looked over at him surprised and he looked over at her. "Sorry for snapping at you the other day, it's just that you left me in the forest and I could have missed the exams." He grinned his trademark grin and rubbed the back of his head, "Not like it mattered anyway, I still failed."

"I d-didn't l-leave you in the f-forest, N-Naruto-kun, I w-went to g-get some f-food for us to eat, b-but y-you wre gone w-when I got t-there," she replied.

Naruto blinked before answering, "Well it seems I really do owe you an apology...how about when we're done here we go get some ramen?"

The word 'date' raced through Hinata's mind as she almost blanked out. She forced her mouth open and said yes. Naruto smiled and turned to the front as a teacher walked in.

"Okay everyone, calm down, I'm going to announce the teams, and then you will meet your new jounin instructor to get further orders," he said. Everyone quietly got into their seats and waited for the ninja teacher to continue. "First up, Team 1..." _I hope I'm on Naruto's team,_ Hinata thought.

The ninja continued on until he reached Team 7. "On Team 7 it will be Haruno Sakura, Naruto Uzumaki..." Sakura did a face plant on the desk, "and Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura was immediately revived and jumped up and down as Hinata began to sulk.

Once the teams were announced, everyone left to meet their instructors, leaving Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Naruto sat impatiently waiting for thirty minutes before he had to get up and start pacing back and forth. Sakura sat next to Sasuke trying to spark up a conversation with him, but failing. Deciding it was pointless, she sat back in her chair and waited. Naruto, deciding that it was rude to make them wait so long decided to play a prank on their instuctor. Opening the door just a bit, he slid an eraser in so it would fall when he finally arrived. "What are you doing Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"I'm just paying him back for making us wait so damn long," he replied.

"Baka, he's a jounin, there's no way he'll fall for _that._" At that moment, a man poked his head in the door, only to be hit in the head with the eraser. Naruto laughed as he stepped fully into the room. He had white hair that slanted to the side and his forehead protector covered his left eye along with a mask covering the lower half of his face.

He cleared his throat, "At first glance, it seems like you guys are a group of idiots." Naruto straightened up at that remark and crossed his arms, staring daggers at their instructor. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes," he said and walked out of the room. "What an asshole," Naruto muttered to himself.

OoOoO

They met up on the roof and were sitting across from their instructor, a slight breeze blowing arcoss the roof. "Let's start with some introductions," he said.

"Well...what do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"How about your likes and dislikes, dreams, hobbies, you know, stuff like that."

"How bout you introduce yourself first?" Naruto suggested.

"Me?" the Jounin said pointing to himself. "Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi, I don't feel like telling you my likes and dislikes, dreams...? I have lots of hobbies..." Kakashi just died down.

Sakura leaned and whispered to the others, "We only learned his name, he basically told us nothing!"

Kakashi cleared his throat, "You on the right, you start."

Naruto jumped up, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like cup ramen, but Ichiraku's is better, I dislike..." Naruto glanced at Sasuke, "My dream is to one day become Hokage and for everyone in this village to acknowlede me and treat me with respect!" Naruto gave the thumbs up sign and then sat down, "Oh and as for hobbies, I don't really have any."

"Alright, how about mister darkness sitting next to you?" Kakashi said.

Sasuke scowled, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't really like anything, but I dislike a lot of things. My dream is to revive my clan and to kill a certain man."

Kakashi sighed, _Damn, he's talking about Itachi. I knew he would feel this way._ "Last, pinky, go."

"My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes and dreams are really the same," she said, blushing as she looked over at Sasuke. "I dislike Naruto." 

Naruto scowled at the girl and Kakashi sighed again, _This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. I need to teach them teamwork. _"Ok you guys tomorrow we start with.."

He was imediately interrupted by Naruto, "A mission? Are we going on our first mission?"

"No, we are going to do some survival training."

"What the hell! We had enough training in the academy, why do we need more?" Naruto yelled. 

"I don't know if you really want to know because when I tell you, you guys will probably try to kill me." 

"Is it really that bad?" Sakura asked.

"Yea it is, of the 27 graduates only 9 are going to be genin, so if you fail my test, you are going to be sent back to the academy." Naruto stood, mouth agape at the man in front of him. "I told you it was bad. Be here around seven tomorrow morning and don't eat or you'll throw up." Kakashi gave them a half salute and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto was still in shock when Sakura asked them, "So what are we going to do Sasuke-kun? We can't fail, we have to pass."

"Hmph," was Sasuke's reply as he got up and walked away.

Sakura sighed, "Well what do you think Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head, "I have no idea, but now I have to go meet someone at Ichiraku's so cya later!" Sakura stood on the roof, staring in amazement at the disappearing form of Naruto, usually he would jump at the chance to talk to her. She slowly made her way home wondering what had gone wrong in the world.

OoOoO

Naruto walked into Ichiraku's and noticed that Hinata was already there with a bowl of ramen in front of her. He went and sat down next to her, "Hey what's up Hinata?"

She looked up startled, "N-Naruto-k-kun! I t-thought you h-had forgotten to meet m-me."

"No, my Jounin didn't show up until real late and then was a huge asshole, saying we were idiots," Naruto said, scowling.

"I-it's alright N-Naruto-kun," Hinata assured him.

"You know what's worse?" Hinata shook her head, "He said that if we fail his test tomorrow, we have to go back to the academy because only nine of the twenty-seven graduates can graduate he said."

Hinata had a confused look on her face, "O-our Jounin instsrtuctor d-didn't mention anything about t-that, she said w-we were going on our f-first mission tomorrow."

Naruto slammed his fist down, "So that bastard lied to us!"

"Y-you c-can't assume that N-Naruto-kun, he m-might actually f-fail you."

"That son of a bitch, I'm going to kill him tomorrow if he's lying!" Acouple of blocks away at the 'adult' book store, Kakashi sneezed, _Hmm, someone's talking about me. _He smiled, _Hope it was a nice thought._

Hinata reachd for Naruto's hand to calm him down, but her shyness won over in the end and she pulled her hand back. Instead she tried to calm him down with words, "P-please, N-Naruto-kun, he is y-your teacher, even if y-you do not g-get sent to back t-to the academy becuase you f-fail, surely he h-has another r-reason for this t-training."

Naruto paused for a moment and smiled, "Of course he must have another reason! You're smart Hinata!" Hinata blushed and looked down. "Anyway," Naruto said standing up, "I owe you an apology for getting mad at you, so I'll buy the ramen, and when we're done I'll walk you back home."

Fear crossed Hinata's face, "N-no y-you can't w-walk me b-back home!"

Naruto scratched his head, "Yea I guess that is a bit much."

"No, t-that's not the r-reason, i-if my f-father sees me t-talking to y-you he'll punish me!" she said, fear evident in her voice.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Punish you how?" She looked down at her hands and started twiddling her thumbs. "Uh-uh Hinata, don't do that, tell me, what would he do?" She continued to look down at her hands and Naruto sighed, "Fine, you don't have to tell me, and since I can't walk you home, how about a stroll through the park?"

"Ok," she whispered, "and w-we can visit I-Iruka t-too."

Naruto smiled, "Yea that would be nice."

After a couple bowls of ramen, Naruto decided to leave before he lost track of time eating; he paid and then took Hinata to the park. The sun was starting to set as they walked throught the park towards the place where they held the funeral. As they neared the large monument, another person was standing there. As they got closer, the person started to seem familiar to Naruto.

As they walked up next to the man, Naruto looked at him and realized it was Kakashi. Without looking at them he asked, "What are you doing here Naruto and who's that with you?"

Naruto walked up to the statue and placed his hand over Iruka's name, "Just saying hi to a friend, and with me is Hyuuga Hinata."

Kakashi glanced over at the two, _Ah, he's here to see Iruka, and by the looks of it, he will be coming here often. Looks like we will be together a lot more Naruto._

"So why are you here Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Same as you, saying hi to an old friend," he replied.

Naruto smiled and pulled his hand back from the statue, "Do you visit often?"

"Every day if I can."

"Looks like we may run into each other then."

"Seems so."

"About today..." Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "sorry about the eraser thing, I was just a little mad you were so late."

Kakashi took another glance at Naruto and saw the sincerity in his face, and Kakashi smiled, "Don't worry about it, but if you think this will keep me from failing you tomorrow think again."

Naruto smiled back, and Kakashi frowned, "My friend Hinata here says her Jounin teacher didn't mention anything about that, so I think you're lying."

Kakashi looked for the first time at Hinata. _She looks just like her mother, _he thought, _and smart too._"Maybe she's going to surprise you."

Hinata frowned, "I-I don't t-think that she w-would do such a t-thing, would s-she?"

"You never know." Kakashi looked up at the darkening sky, "You two should get home and sleep, it's getting late, and Naruto is going to have an exciting day tomorrow."

"Alright, goodnight Kakashi-sensei."

"Goodnight Naruto." Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto turned around to Hinata, "I guess we should head home, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Hinata blushed, "I'm s-sorry you c-can't walk m-me home."

"No, it'smy fault, he doesn't like me, I still remember all those years ago when he yelled at you for talking to me," Naruto recalled.

"G-goodnight N-Naruto-kun," she said looking down at her shoes.

"Goodnight Hinata-chan," Naruto replied. Hinata's head snapped up, _Chan? Am I dreaming? _Hinata fell into a dream like state as sh walked away.

After they went their seperate ways, Naruto watched the ground as he walked away. _That was wierd, why did I add chan to her name? _Naruto shrugged and ran the rest of the way home.

OoOoO

They next morning, Naruto jumped out of bead and prepared his ninja equipment for their training. His stomach growled for food, so Naruto went and put a cup of ramen in the microwave. When it was done, he pulled it out and was about to eat it when he remembered what Kakashi had said. He had told them to not eat anything or else they would get sick. The aroma flooded his nose and his stomach growled louder. After a few more minutes of arguing with himself he said to hell with Kakashi and sided with his stomach. After he finished eating, he grabbed his stuff and ran out the door toward the training area.

Naruto cut through the park, heading towad the memorial stone. He planned on asking Iruka to help him, and he was going to stop there even if he was late for the training. As he landed in front of the stone, he raised his hand and placed it on Iruka's name, "Please Iruka-sensei, help me pass the test and to make smart decisions." Naruto paused and chuckled to himself, "Do the best you can anyway, you know I'm hard headed." He glanced one last time at Iruka's name and then jumped off in the direction of the training ground.

As Naruto neared the meeting area, he noticed only two people were there, and as he got closer he saw that Sasuke and Sakura were the only ones there. "Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

A vein was visible on Sakura's head, "He's late!"

They sat down and began waiting for Kakashi to show up. After two long hours, he finally arrived. "Yo!" he said as he waved his hand.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto screamed at him.

Kakashi shrugged, "I was heading over here when I ran into an old friend and we just couldn't stop talking." They sighed and then stood in front of Kakashi, ready to do what ever he asked. "Ok, so let's begin. I will be your opponent, and your objective is to get these two bells away from me." He raised two bells and shook them, "Whoever doesn't get a bell will be tied to stump and will get no lunch, plus the others will eat the lunch in front of you. Also, if you do not get a bell, you will fail and be sent back to the academy, and since there are only two bells, one of you will fail."

Saskue crossed his arms and gave a 'humph,' as Naruto and Sakura, jaws on the ground, stared in disbelief at Kakashi. "Are you serious?" Sakura asked.

"Very, and you won't be able to get the bells unless you come at me intending to kill me."

"Fine we will try to kill you, and I'll get one of those bells!" Naruto announced.

"Ha, big talk from the dead last in the class," Kakashi said mockingly.

Naruto turned red with anger. He reached into the pouch on the side of his leg and pulled out a kunai. He ran at Kakashi, "Don't EVER call me dead last again!" His eyes glowed red as he charged at Kakashi. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi was behind Naruto and had his arm pulled back and the kunai pointed at his own head. 

Naruto growled angrily and Kakashi chuckled, "That's exactly what I want, but next time wait until I say go, ok?" Kakashi let go of Naruto and jumped away, "Start...NOW!"

The three of them disappeared from sight. _At least they know how to hide,_ Kakashi thought. He heard something behind him and he turned around. Standing there was Naruto, his eyes red and a kunai in his hand. _This can't be good, his eyes have changed color, does that mean the Kyuubi is free?No, theres not enough chakra..._

"You called me dead last, and I don't like being called dead last. You're going to pay for that," Naruto growled. 

Naruto ran at Kakashi and threw the kunai from his hand. Kakashi snatched it from the air and threw it back. Naruto jumped to the side and threw a handful of shurikens at him. Kakashi flipped to the side, only to find Naruto in his face. Kakashi was stunned as Naruto kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying into a tree. Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke and a log was lying on the ground. 

Kakashi sat in a tree and stared out at Naruto, _He's stronger than he looks. Lets see what else he's got._

Kakashi jumped from the tree, and Naruto turned to face him. He raised his hands and formed a cross, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Five more Narutos appeared and pulled out kunai, making a total of six. Kakashi was shocked, _This was the jutsu he used to beat Mizuki!_

He was unprepared when they attacked him, as two Naruto's jumped into the air and threw their kunai at him while two more attacked from the sides. Kakashi caught a kunai and used it to deflect the other one. TheNaruto on his right jumped and aimed a kick at his head, and the one on his left went in low and tried to sweep kick him. Kakashi grabbed the Naruto in the air by the leg and slammed him down into the other one and they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi was caught offguard as one of the others snuck up behind him and grabbed him, pinning his arms. The last Naruto jumped over and punched Kakashi in the stomach, but there was a puff of smoke and Naruto found that he had punched his own clone. Kakashi picked the last Naruto up by the neck and threw him into a tree, expecting him to be knocked out cold. Instead he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, but there were no more Naruto's left. Confused, Kakashi looked around when all of a sudden the kunai in his hand exploded and the real Naruto replaced it. Kakashi watched as Naruto punched Kakashi in the face sending him flying into the forest.

Sasuke and Sakura stared in disbelief at what Naruto had just done. _Who is this? This can't be Naruto?_ Sasuke thought. Sasuke noticed Naruto staring at something and followed his eyes. Sasuke saw a glint underneath a tree, and he watched as Naruto went to pick up the bell. Naruto leaned over and then was snagged by the trap left by Kakashi. He appeared arms folded and started saying something to Naruto about a good punch and never falling for obvious traps.

_That Naruto's an idiot, what was I thinking, he hasn't changed at all_. Kakashi bent over a picked up the bell andan alarmwent off in Sasuke's head_, NOW_!

Sasuke threw a barrage of shuriken and kunai at the unsespecting Kakashi.They were a direct hit and blood flew from the wounds_. Yes, I got him_, but again there was another puff of smoke and a log was in Kakashi's place_. Shit! I can't believe I fell for his trap, and from the kunai, he knows where I am, I have to get out of here! _he thought jumping away.

Kakashi smiled and watched him run off through the trees. He was about to follow him when he heard a rustle from behind him, _Sakura, there you are. _He appeared behind Sakura and before she could do anything, he cast a genjustsu on her.

Sakura looked around, "How did I get here?" she wondered aloud. 

She heard a rustle from behind her, "Sakura..."

"Sasuke-kun?" she said turning around smiling. From behind the tree walked out an injured Sasuke with kunai all over his body. Sakura screamed and then fainted.

From atop a branch Kakashi sighed, _She was to easy, now to find Sasuke._

Sasuke stood in a clearing, _A genjutsu, Sakura would fall for it but..._

"I'm not the same as them, and I will defeat you," Sasuke proclaimed.

There was a chuckle from behind him, "Say that after you get the bell."


	3. Chapter 3 Pass or Fail?

Hey! Here's the next chapter for RotSL, hope you like it! It would have been out sooner, but my computer was being stupid and deleted the last thousand of my words. Soooooo...yea, it's fixed and the new chapter is here.

On another note, for those of you who like my stories and want to keep informed on my progress, just look at my profile and I update it, not every day, but often. It will be under "Important" and farther down there will be progress reports on each chapter.

Anyway, enjoy the third installment of RotSL and please, for the love of all that is good in the world, read **AND** review!!

OoOoO

**Chapter 3 Pass or Fail?!**

Naruto grumbled as he swung back and forth, hanging by his feet from a tree. "Fucking Kakashi-sensei," he muttered. He hung there for a few more minutes before he took a kunai from his pouch and swung up to cut himself free.

He landed on his feet and looked around, everyone was gone. Naruto scowled, "That asshole, how does he expect us to beat him? He's a jounin for crying out loud!"

Naruto cracked his fingers, thinking. He was trying to figure out what the point of this exercise was if they stood no chance against him in the first place. He sat down and closed his eyes and thought back to Iruka's classes. _There was that one day, he told us something, said it was the most important thing to remember...what was it? _Naruto wondered.

He thought hard and finally remembered:

_"In the ninja world, there is one thing to always remember," Iruka began, "you always have your teammates. They are there to help you and get you out of tight spots. Never forget them, they are your friends and together, using teamwork, you can beat even the most powerful enemy." Then he turned around and threw an eraser at a sleeping Naruto. "Are you even listening to me?!" he had screamed._

Naruto's eyes flashed open, "Of course! It's to test our teamwork!" He got up and dusted himself off. He felt proud of himself for remembering that and congratulated himself. "I need to go tell the others, but I wonder where they are?" There was a large explosion to the east of Naruto and he figured that was where he would find them. As he began running toward the fight, he was snatched up in a second trap. "Fucking Kakashi-sensei," Naruto mumbled again.

OoOoO

Sasuke flipped backwards, away from one of Kakashi's fireballs. He landed on his feet and threw a few kunai at Kakashi. He easily deflected them and jumped towards Sasuke. He dodged to the side and Kakashi rolled past him.

Sasuke made a few hand signs and called out, "Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!" The large fireball expanded from is mouth and then soared toward Kakashi. He flipped over the fireball and landed in front of Sasuke, startling him. Kakashi's fist lashed out and connected with Sasuke's jaw. He flew through the air and landed a few yards away.

Slowly getting up, Sasuke cursed himself. A scowl settled onto his face and he glared at Kakashi, hatred in his eyes. "Katon, Goukakyuu no jutsu," Sasuke screamed as he made the seals once again.

The ball of fire exploded from Sasuke's mouth with such intensity, the sheer force of it pushed him back and left a small crater where he was standing. Once again, however, Kakashi jumped into the air, over Sasuke's jutsu. He quickly looked around but Sasuke had disappeared.

Kakashi's eye widened as he looked above him as Sasuke brought his foot down and it met with Kakashi's face.

He hit the ground with an impact that shook the area, and dust flew up into the air. Sasuke landed a few feet from the dust cloud and smiled, _I did it, and as soon as the dust clears, I'm going to take that bell!_

Sasuke heard a strange noise and glanced around. Confused, Sasuke continued to look around him, trying to find the source of the noise. There was a loud crunch as the ground underneath Sasuke gave way, and two hands grabbed his ankles. Sasuke yelped in surprise as he was pulled under up to his neck.

He glared at Kakashi as he saluted him and vanished in a puff of smoke. Sasuke yelled in frustration as he tried to wriggle himself free, but found himself stuck fast. "Hey calm down there, Sasuke-teme," a voice said from behind the bushes.

Naruto and Sakura appeared from behind the bushes and looked at the buried Sasuke. Sakura rushed over and began to dig him out, while Naruto leaned up against a tree.

"Ummm...Sasuke?" Sakura said, looking over at Naruto.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Naruto has a plan, and I think it's a good one..." Sakura said nervously

Sasuke stared at Sakura in disbelief, "You know you're talking about Naruto right?"

"Well, I'll let him tell you."

Sasuke gazed over at Naruto, "What is your plan?"

"First, how was your fight against Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, a grin on his face.

"I obviously lost, dobe," he angrily replied.

"Exactly, there was no way you could have won against him, he's a jounin," Naruto stated matter-of-factly.

"Is this going somewhere, or are you just rubbing in my face?" By this time, Sakura had dug deep enough for him to lift his arms out and he began helping Sakura dig.

"Well, how are we expected to beat a jounin, we're only genin right? I mean come on; the odds are stacked against us. We can't beat him..." he paused, "alone that is."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow in confusion, "What do you mean?"

We can't beat Kakashi-sensei alone, but together I think we could stand a chance. You see this exercise is about how well we can work together. A shinobi team is a functioning body, and it only operates at full capacity when everything is in tune. We need to show Kakashi-sensei that we can work as a team. Three versus one are better odds for us anyway."

"Even so, three genin still can't beat Kakashi-sensei, so how do we get the bells?" Sasuke asked.

"It's not about the bells, don't you see that? We can't beat him, it's practically impossible, but he doesn't expect us to beat him, that's not what he's looking for. Even the bells aren't a part of the test; he just used them so we would turn on each other and try to get the bells for ourselves."

The truth dawned on Sasuke, "So the bells were a distraction from the fact that he wanted us to work together!"

"Yes! We have to show him our teamwork." Naruto looked up at the sky, towards the sun, "We have a little less than an hour to show Kakashi-sensei we can work as a team. Let's go make a plan and find him."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded and followed him deeper into the woods.

In the trees overhead, Kakashi sat, watching their every movement. Under his mask, his lips were up in a smile, _Naruto, you're a smart kid, the academy doesn't give you the credit you deserve._

OoOoO

Kakashi sat on a tree stump in a clearing, reading his orange book. He let out a giggle at one of the more...interesting parts.

He noticed a flicker of movement to his right, and as he looked up he saw the three genin prospects standing there. "What do you three want? Here to give up?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto snorted, "Yea right, we're here to kick your ass."

Naruto jumped forward and aimed a punch at his face. Kakashi turned his head to the right, Naruto's fist narrowly missing his cheek. Sasuke came around from the side and tried to catch Kakashi off guard, as he blew a fireball from his mouth. Naruto, still in the air, planted his feet on Kakashi's chest and pushed away from him, pushing Kakashi into the fire jutsu's path. The ball of fire hit Kakashi square on, but he had performed a kawarimi at the last minute.

Kakashi hid in a tree nearby watching the two genin with curiosity. Then he doubled back and relooked over the area. _Where's pinky?_ he thought. He turned around and saw Sakura smiling at him. When he turned back to the clearing, Naruto and Sasuke had disappeared. He turned around to grab Sakura, but when he reached out, all he grabbed was air.

Then, the branch he was standing on splintered and Kakashi fell toward the ground. He quietly landed on his feet and looked around. He heard the sound of small explosions and turned around to see three Naruto clones grabbing onto him. Sakura appeared and threw kunai and shuriken at him, but they seemed to miss. Kakashi raised an eyebrow in shock as he realized strings were tied to the kunai. They rapped around him until he could no longer move and he watched as Sasuke picked up the other end of the strings and held them up to his mouth.

The strings caught on fire and engulfed Kakashi in the blink of an eye. When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was on one knee and breathing heavily. As the three genin cautiously closed in around him, he held up his hand. "That's enough," he said. "Follow me back to the clearing."

As they walked out of the forest, they made their way to three wooden posts. There they sat down and Kakashi pulled out four bentos. He handed them out and took out his chopsticks. "Itidakimasu," they said and began to eat. As they ate Kakashi spoke to them.

"You three have exceeded my expectations," he began, "You passed my test and are going to become genin."

Naruto whooped for joy and pumped his fist into the air. "Finally...we're finally ninja!"

"That's right. Now I just want to talk to you guys about what you just did. Actually, can any of you tell me what you just did?"

"Using teamwork, we beat a jounin," Sakura answered.

Kakashi nodded his head, "Exactly, teamwork allowed you to beat me. Another question, who came up with the idea of Sakura tailing me, that was an important part of your strategy."

Sakura sheepishly raised her hand, "I thought it would be a good idea since I knew you would probably use a kawarimi at one point."

Kakashi's eye gave off the sense he was smiling, "Well that was a good plan, I like it."

Naruto was still beaming about becoming an official ninja, "So Kakashi-sensei, what did you think about that last attack?"

"One hell of an attack," he replied.

Once done eating they stood up and began walking back home. At the edge of the training grounds, before they went their separate ways, Kakashi addressed them. "Now that you have passed my test, we will perform our first mission tomorrow. Report here at six o'clock tomorrow morning for a brief meeting and then we'll go to the Hokage's to receive our mission, dismissed!" Kakashi jumped up onto a building and disappeared.

Naruto put an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and asked, "So how did it feel to work as a team, eh, Mr. Lone Wolf?"

"Hmph," was his reply as he too jumped up and disappeared.

"Stuck up bastard," Naruto murmured.

There was a noise from behind him and he turned to see Sakura, hands behind her back. "That was pretty good today, Naruto, maybe I was wrong about you."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head, "Nah, it was nothing." He thought for a minute before asking, "Hey you want to go get something to eat, just as teammates, though."

Sakura hesitated for a second before she smiled and happily replied, "Sure, as long as we just go as teammates."

Naruto smiled, "Ok, let's go to Ichiraku's!"

Sakura punched him in the head, "Have you no manners? The lady is supposed to pick where to eat."

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto nodded, "Alright, alright, lead the way."

OoOoO

Kakashi walked into a bar and sat down. The bartender walked over and asked what he wanted. "Give me some sake please," Kakashi responded. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a glint of red. When he turned to look, Kurenai was sitting next to him.

"Heard you didn't test your team," Kakashi stated.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow while asking the bartender for some sake as well. "What's it to you?" she asked.

"Just wanted to know why." Kakashi took a swig of the sake that the bartender sat in front of him.

"If you must know, I couldn't bring myself to do it. There is a certain someone on my team, who if failed would have probably been beaten."

"You speak of the Hyuga girl."

Kurenai nodded, "Yes, her. Her father was very adamant that she become a ninja. Also, she lacks self confidence, probably a consequence of living with her father. He constantly berates her. Once I overheard him talking to her and telling her how useless she was. It made me sick."

Kakashi shook his head, "Parents these days. You know that being told that she was useless all these years probably led her to believe him and thus she lacks the confidence and belief in herself."

"I know; that's why I couldn't test them with the chance they would fail."

"Why not just take her in yourself, it seems he doesn't want her," Kakashi suggested.

Kurenai shook her head no, "I've tried, but Hiashi won't let me. Even though he despises her, he wants to keep her around so she stays miserable."

"Well, tell anyone this, but I have to agree with your decision to pass them."

"Speaking of which, I heard you passed your very first team today, that true?" she asked.

"Yep, they're good."

"Was it the bell test?"

"Is there another one?" Kakashi retorted, taking another drink.

"Who figured out that the test was about teamwork?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he replied calmly.

Kurenai seemed startled for a second, "Naruto? That's a surprise, wasn't he the lowest in his class?"

Kakashi stared at his sake. "The academy cheated him."

"How so?" she asked, now concerned.

"I checked the records, and the only class he did well in was Iruka's. It seems that the only teacher who saw Naruto as a person instead of a monster gave him the grades he deserved. Every other teacher gave him terrible grades. Also, it seems that when he realized that trying his hardest to impress the teachers wasn't going to work, he gave up and became lazy."

"We have to tell the Hokage about that! That is despicable!" she said in disgust.

"It wouldn't do any good, he's already graduated. I can't prove it either, it's just speculation that Naruto is smarter than he appears," Kakashi downed the last of his sake and called the bartender over for a refill. "I need a favor...actually, it's not me that needs the favor, it's Naruto."

"Sure, anything."

"It seems that Naruto has...mellowed out since Iruka died and seems less likely to do stupid things. I think he believes that Iruka died because of him, his stupid mistakes, so he's learned the hard and painful way that acting without thinking will lead to trouble. More importantly, now that Iruka is gone, he has no older, parental figure to look to when he needs help, so I want him to get to know the other team leaders."

"Ok, but what do you want me to do?" Kurenai asked, somewhat confused.

"In the academy, Naruto had to deal with teachers ragging on him and not teaching him the way they should. Because of this he has not learned the basics of anything really. This is where you come in, I want you to train him as well, and I plan on asking the other jounin too. This way he learns the basics and gets to know the other jounin along with their teams."

Kurenai nodded as she thought it over. "You're right, he should get the training, but if you don't mind me asking, what do you want each jounin to teach him?"

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask, "I'm not going to tell you yet, not until I meet with everyone, so if you would bring them here so I can explain to them what I want; we can begin."

OoOoO

Naruto followed close behind Sakura, letting her lead them to the restaurant of her choice. Finally they stopped at a fancy restaurant and she entered. Naruto groaned and joined her inside. "What's the matter Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Well...I don't think I can afford this place, the owner tends to crank up the prices when I try to eat here," Naruto replied, slightly red from embarrassment.

Sakura frowned, "Really? This is my uncle's place."

Naruto looked at the ground, "I'm sorry, but that's what happens."

Sakura's brow furrowed, "Well come on, we'll eat here anyway, and if anyone gives us hell, I'll go to my uncle, and if he gives me hell, I'll just have to punch him."

Naruto grinned, "Thanks, you're the best!"

Sakura blushed, "No problem."

They found a table and sat down and not to long after sitting, the waiter came by to take their orders. Sakura ordered first, getting the sashimi; thinly sliced, raw seafood. The waiter turned to Naruto and a frown crossed his face, "What can I do for you?"

Naruto looked nervous as he looked at the waiter, "I-I would like the yakitori and gyudon, please."

Sakura smiled, "See Naruto, he didn't seem to hate you."

Naruto had a sad look on his face, "Just wait, you'll see."

To ease the tension, Sakura began talking about the bell test they had passed. She told Naruto that he did a good job figuring out the actual meaning to the test, and that he and Sasuke had looked really cool fighting Kakashi. Naruto blushed from the unusual praise and thanked her. Not to long into the conversation, their food came. After sitting the bowls down, the waiter walked away, only to glance back at Naruto. They picked up their chopsticks, and after saying 'itidakimasu', began to eat.

Naruto stopped almost immediately and pushed his bowl away. Sakura frowned, "What's wrong?"

"They tampered with it."

"That can't be," she said as she took the bowl from Naruto. She inspected the gyudon and searched through it. She gasped as she pulled out a small pill, barely noticeable to the untrained eye of a civilian. She immediately stood up, "Wait here, I'll be right back."

She stalked off and disappeared for a few long minutes. There was a crash as Sakura broke the door to the kitchen off its hinges. She grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him out of the restaurant, "Come on we're leaving."

As they walked through the streets of Konoha, Sakura shook her head, "How can you put up with that crap?"

Naruto shrugged, "I guess I just got used to it."

"Well you should complain to the Hokage or something, you shouldn't have to live like this!" Sakura said, outraged at the people of the village.

"I have, many times when I was younger, but he can't stop them, not all of them." Naruto stared up at the half moon. He saw a star shoot through the sky.

They continued in silence, soon reaching Sakura's house. "I guess goodbye then," Naruto said.

"Sorry our date didn't go quite as planned," Sakura apologized.

Naruto smiled, "Don't worry about it, it wasn't a date anyway."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, "It wasn't? I would have thought you would have gone crazy when I said that, you know...since you have that crush on me."

Naruto chuckled, "You know, I would have, but, I don't have a crush on you any more. I realize that was a dumb crush anyway, you would never like a guy like me. Sasuke's more your type...I think...how would that work anyway? Black and dark with pink and lively? I guess what they say is true, opposites attract."

Sakura laughed and put her hands on her hips, "What's that supposed to mean?"

When the laughter died down, there was an awkward silence that followed. Sakura kicked a pebble before asking, "So does that mean you have another crush?"

Naruto seemed to space out for a minute, thinking. When he came back, he shook his head, "No, as of right now, I don't have a crush on any one."

Sakura smiled, "So I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto waved, " Cya."

He sighed and began walking back to his apartment, _Is it true I don't like any one right now? I think so, I think I've gotten over Sakura, and there's no one else I can think of..._

Naruto wasn't paying attention to where he was going, so it was no surprise he ran into someone; the only surprise was who it was.

OoOoO

Kakashi sat at the bar, swirling his drink. He gulped down the last of his sake and sat the cup on the counter. The bartender walked over and refilled his drink, Kakashi nodding his thanks.

Kurenai had left only a few moments ago to gather the other jounin. He had asked her to call them here so he could explain to them what he wanted them to do. At the moment, however, something else was on Kakashi's mind.

_What am I going to do with the other two? Sasuke is going to be pissed as hell and demand the same training. _He sat there for a while, mulling over the problem. _Maybe I should personally train him so he does not become jealous...and Sakura I'm sure will want training as well. The only problem with Sakura is who is going to teach her? If only _she _was here. I'll have to contact her, or find some way to..._

His thoughts were interrupted as the four other jounin walked in. Kakashi stood up and walked over to one of the tables and motioned them to sit down. "Thank you for coming here on such short notice, but there are some things that I wish to ask of you."

"Ah, my youthful rival, do you wish to learn the secret to my youthfulness?" Maito Gai asked.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "Please, let me finish." He cleared his throat and continued, "As you well know, I have passed my team today, consisting of the Uchiha and Uzumaki boys."

The people around the table exchanged glances when Asuma asked, "Naruto passed your test? You must be going soft Kakashi."

Kakashi waved the comment off. "Uzumaki Naruto is not as dumb as you think, he is actually quite bright. The only problem was...no _is,_ that he contains the demon inside him, and it has led to a discrimination against him. In the academy, he was taught nothing by any one except for one man, Umino Iruka. This man was a fatherly figure to Naruto, and unfortunately he died. Naruto has now been stripped of his only...family." He looked around the table, meeting the eyes of everyone sitting there. "Now, to get to the point of the matter. In the academy, the teachers disliked him so they refused to teach him the curriculum. This is why I have asked you four here today, to help me train my student. Not the demon, please do not think of him as a demon, but as a boy, a boy who has gone through hell to get where he is. I want Naruto to have older parental figures that he knows he can trust, and I want him to befriend the other genin, so I ask of you, will you help him?"

Kurenai smiled at Kakashi, "I will agree to help train Naruto." One by one, the other three also agreed to help.

"Alright, I am going to explain to each of you what you will be teaching Naruto." He motioned toward Gai, "Obviously I want Naruto to learn taijutsu from you."

Gai gave him a thumbs up and a smile that sparkled, even in the dimly lit bar. "Of course! I will show him the ways of youth!"

Kakashi waved his finger at Gai, "No spandex." Gai frowned and lowered his head in disappointment.

"Next, Kurenai I would like you to teach him chakra control, but since he probably can't use genjutsu very well, instead teach him to defend against it. I'll take care of the ninjutsu part," Kakashi said, nodding towards Kurenai. He then turned his attention toward Asuma, "You have a challenging job, I think. I want you, and especially Shikamaru, to teach him to strategize, how to analyze a situation, and most importantly, patience."

Asuma groaned, "You have got to be kidding me. How do you expect me to teach that to him, the most hyper active kid in the village?"

Kakashi smiled and winked at him, "You'll find a way." Lastly, he looked at the only person left who had not been given a job. Her name was Aiko, a pro with weapons, the best in the village, and Tenten's mother. "You will help Naruto with weapon training, and I would like it if you could help him find his very own weapon."

Aiko smiled, "It would be an honor."

Now that he had finished, he sighed in relief and closed his eye. After a few moments, he reopened it and addressed the jounin. "Thank you, training will begin next Monday. For the first week, I will accompany him to all the practices, but following that day he is all yours. I will make a schedule, so that he will train every morning, a different person every day." Kakashi waved over the waiter, "Drinks for everyone, I'm buying, it's the least I can do."

OoOoO

Naruto had been walking home from Sakura's when he had bumped into someone. He heard a small squeak as he looked down. Standing there was a startled Hinata. Naruto smiled, "Hey Hinata-chan!"

Her eyes grew large as she looked up at Naruto's face. She looked away, afraid to faint in front of him, "H-hello N-Naruto-kun."

"What are you doing out here so late?" Naruto wondered.

"I w-was eating dinner w-with my new t-teammates," she stuttered.

"Really? Who are they?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"S-Shino-kun and K-Kiba-kun."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Inuzuka and Aburame?" Hinata nodded her head.

They stood there for a few seconds, an awkward silence between them. Naruto scratched the back of his head, getting ready to say good-bye when Hinata suddenly asked, "Do y-you want to g-get some ramen?"

Naruto grinned real wide, "Of course! Let's go!"

Sakura watched as Naruto ran off with Hinata in tow and smiled. _He is so thickheaded..._

As Naruto walked into the ramen stand, he pulled out a chair and motioned for Hinata to sit down. "T-thank you, N-Naruto-kun."

The old man walked over and looked at the two and smiled, "I'll get you your order."

"I didn't order anything yet!" Naruto yelled.

The old man ignored him and brought back an extra large bowl of ramen, "This is on the house, for the two of you to share."

Naruto drooled at the sight of the ramen before him and grabbed his chopsticks. "Itidakimasu!" He dug in and stuffed the ramen into his mouth. It wasn't until he was half way done when he noticed Hinata wasn't eating. He stopped and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He pushed the bowl over and asked, "Do you want any?"

She smiled and shook her head, "I-I already a-ate remember?"

Naruto laughed, "Oh yea, I forgot! I'll just finish it then."

Once done, Naruto patted his stomach and sighed. He glanced over at Hinata, who was fiddling with her coat zipper. He smiled, _She's cute..._ He frowned, _Cute? Did I just say that? _

He shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts and stood up. He stretched out and yelled to the back of the stand, "Thanks ojii-san!"

Hinata also stood up and followed Naruto outside. Once out of the ramen stand, Naruto breathed in the cool night air. "Well, it looks like it's time to head back, eh Hinata-chan?" he asked turning toward her.

She nodded her head, "I-I guess I'll s-see you l-later Naruto-kun."

She turned to leave, but Naruto reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Hinata-chan, what do you do for breakfast?"

"I t-tend to e-eat with my f-father, but I l-like eating o-out more," she replied.

"Would you like to meet me for breakfasts here in the mornings?" Naruto asked nervously. "I mean you don't have to have ramen, you could always bring other food...if you wanted to."

Hinata smiled, "I w-would love to N-Naruto-kun."

"Great! I'll meet you here tomorrow morning then. Bye!" he said, waving as he ran off to his apartment.

Hinata was smiling and waving until Naruto disappeared from sight. She then laughed giddily and turned toward her house, _Breakfast with Naruto-kun..._

OoOoO

Naruto woke up the next morning, ready to go as he walked into the ramen stand. He walked to the counter and sat down, ordering two bowls of ramen. Hinata was not too far behind as she cautiously walked into the stand and nervously sat down next to Naruto. "Good morning Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

She smiled, "G-good morning N-Naruto-kun."

He pushed a bowl of ramen over to her, "I already ordered for you, I hope you don't mind."

Naruto and Hinata laughed and talked for a while, enjoying each others company. Unfortunately, outside the ramen stand stood a boy who wished nothing but ill fortunes on Hinata. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against a wall, hood covering his face so no one would recognize him as a Hyuga. He watched as Hinata enjoyed her meal with Naruto, and he realized right away that she liked him. He shook his head; her father would be very angry were he to find out about this.

Hiashi had personally asked him to go and watch the girl to make sure she did not get into any trouble...or caused any for others. Neji glared at her, hating how weak she was, not even strong enough to defeat her sister. He wondered if he should keep the fact of her meeting the Uzumaki boy a secret from her father, but the thought was quickly extinguished by his hatred. This was his chance! His chance to strike back at the main branch!

Neji pushed away from the wall and turned towards the Hyuga compound. _Because of you my life was ruined, _he thought, _but it seems I'm destined to ruin yours..._

OoOoO

After his breakfast with Hinata, Naruto joyfully walked to the park. He was visiting Iruka, just as he had done two days ago. He walked up to the monument, placing his hand on Iruka's name and quietly prayed.

He prayed that Iruka would give him the wisdom to make rational decisions in dangerous times, that he could keep his head when angered, that when he was on a mission he could keep his friends safe from harm, but most of all he prayed that he would never let anyone else that he cared for die. Lastly, he thanked Iruka, thanked him for helping him pass the test the day before and especially giving him the team he has.

Naruto took his hand off the statue and stood there. After a few minutes, he decided to leave before he was late to the team's meeting.

"I knew I would find you here," a familiar voice said.

Naruto's head snapped around to see Kakashi standing next to him. "You know," Naruto said, "for your information, I hate it when you do that."

Naruto thought Kakashi smiled, "Which is exactly why I do it."

Naruto laughed and Kakashi joined him. They laughed for a while, easing the tension, allowing Kakashi to get to the point. "Naruto, in the academy, did they teach you anything?"

Naruto thought for a moment before answering, "Well yea they taught me, but taught me _right_ is a whole different question."

Kakashi nodded his head, "I thought so." He scratched the back of his head before moving on, "You are a bright kid Naruto, and the people in the academy treated you like crap, and you didn't deserve a lot of it. I can understand some of it, though, since you always played tricks on them." Naruto grinned and Kakashi laughed.

Between chuckles Kakashi continued, "Look Naruto, those instructors hated you and because of that prejudice, that hate, they never taught you anything."

"I get it already, they didn't like me so they didn't teach me," he said rolling his eyes, "What's your point?"

"My point," Kakashi said, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Is that you can be better than what you are right now."

Naruto's eyes instantly locked with Kakashi's, "Kakashi-sensei, do you mean you're going to personally train me?"

Kakashi laughed a loud, long laugh. "Are you crazy?" he said, wiping a tear from his eye, "I don't think I can handle you myself, I brought help; the other jounin are going to help me."

"Other jounin?"

"I already met with all of them and they said they would love to, the only question left is do _you _want to?" he asked.

Naruto stared at Kakashi as if he was insane, "Is that even a question? Of course I'll train!"

Kakashi smiled and patted him on the back, "Good, but now you have to know two things: first, you can't tell Sasuke, period! He'll get jealous, or angry, or both...definitely both. Second, you have to promise me that no matter how hard it gets, you won't give up."

Naruto nodded his head, "I promise."

"Good, practices start Monday from six to nine in the morning, and then you have to meet us at ten for our meeting and daily mission assignments."

"So who will I be working with?" Naruto asked.

"You'll see. You'll be working with a different instructor every day. I'll go over the schedule later and walk you through your first week of practice." Kakashi paused for a moment looking at his watch, then, "We need to go meet the other two, come on."

"What are we going to do today?"

"We are going on our first mission."

Naruto pumped his fist in the air, "Finally! My first mission! What is it?"

"I believe we get the 'find the cat mission'."

Naruto immediately lost all enthusiasm. "Just a cat? Not even a lion, or...or a tiger?"

"Nope, just your ordinary cat," Kakashi said, smiling.

Naruto groaned.


End file.
